Heat Wave
by TheSongSmith
Summary: When Jasper stays out in the sun too long and gets ill, it's up to Carlisle and Edward to help him. Can they save him in time? Human-ish, but still have their powers. Please R/R!


**Just a little drabble I thought up one night. So before you all attack me, I'm going to say that they're human, but still have their powers. I don't want to put you all into a tizzy again :P**

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I sit, staring out my office window, worrying. Jasper left for a hike this morning, and he hasn't returned. It's happened before, but this time I have a bad feeling. When I can't wait any longer, I call for Edward, who shows up at my door in a second. "I know," he says, "I'm worried too."

I nod. "Come on, we're going to look for him." He nods and follows me out the back door. We pick up his scent and follow his trail into the woods. Soon, Edward stops. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"I can…hear him," he whispers. When he looks up at me, I can see the fear in his eyes. "Something's wrong. His thoughts…they're all broken up. He's in pain. We have to help him!"

I nod and put a hand on his shoulder. "We will," I assure him, "But we need to stay calm and keep our heads clear." He nods in agreement and we continue running for a few more minutes before breaking through the trees.

Finally, we see him. A few feet away, Jasper lies curled up on the ground, his face twisted with pain. He clutches his stomach tightly. I approach him slowly, kneeling beside him. "Jasper," I murmur softly, "What's wrong?"

He slowly peers up at me through clouded eyes. "Dad…?" he mumbles, dazed.

"It's me, Jasper. What's wrong?"

He is about to answer when a fresh wave of pain hits him. He whimpers, grabbing onto me tightly. "Please," he begs desperately, "Make it stop!"

I take his hand, squeezing it tightly as I stroke his hair. "Okay, I'm going to make it stop," I murmur soothingly. "Shh, Dad is here now. It's going to be alright."

He nods weakly as I carefully look him over. I don't find anything that could cause such pain until I gently place my hand over the spot he was holding and feel the muscles convulse under my touch. So it's the cramps that are causing him pain. But what's causing the cramps?

I check his pulse and find it faster and weaker than normal. He still seems disoriented, and he's not sweating, though it's hot out. I try to put all these things together into a diagnosis. Edward follows my train of thought and gasps quietly as I reach my conclusion. Heat stroke. I turn to Edward. "We need to get him home fast. I'll take him; you go ahead and get my office ready." He nods and takes off.

Jasper opens his eyes again, struggling to focus on me. "Whasss goin' on?" he slurs.

"You're very sick," I explain slowly. "You'll be okay, but we need to get you home and take care of you quickly." He nods as I carefully pick him up, cradling him against me and carrying him as fast as I can through the woods. He holds tightly to me as another wave of pain rips through him, and I soothe him gently. It feels like forever before I finally reach the house. I set him down gently on the hospital bed in my office and survey the things Edward has set up. He helps me remove most of Jasper's restrictive clothing and turn him to the side, leaving as much of his skin exposed to the air as possible.

I'm about to insert an IV when Jasper starts convulsing. I instruct Edward to fill the bathtub with cool water. Turning back to Jasper to keep him from hurting himself, I can see the terror in his eyes. "Shh sweetheart," I murmur soothingly. "I know it's scary, but it's going to be alright, I promise. I'm here. You're going to be okay. Just take deep breaths and hang in there." Edward and I quickly transfer him into the tub, and as his body cools the convulsions gradually stop.

When we try to take him out, he resists weakly, and it takes me a minute and a good look at his face to understand that he's terrified it will happen again. I crouch next to him and stroke his hair gently as his eyes, wide with fear, lock onto my face. "Jasper, it's alright. It's done now. I promise it won't happen again. It's okay to come out." Only then does he allow us to help him out of the tub and back onto the bed.

"I don't think I've ever seen him so scared," Edward remarks under his breath as I gently insert the IV.

"It's not his fault," I explain quietly. "He can't process everything that happening. All he knows is that he's in pain, and scary things are happening. You'd be terrified too. We need to keep him as calm as possible. Keep reassuring him and talking to him. Hold his hand, touch his cheek, something. The contact soothes him."

Edward nods and moves to the side of the bed. As I start the drip, I watch him take his brother's hand, stroking his hair lightly and speaking to him in soft tones, reassuring him. "Shh, it's alright," he murmurs. "You're safe, I promise. You're going to be okay. We'll take care of you. It'll be over soon." The effect is almost instantaneous. Right away, Jasper's eyes lock onto Edward's, and, though he can't understand all of the words, he takes comfort in his brother's voice, visibly relaxing somewhat.

I nod at Edward, encouraging him to continue, as I gently run a wet cloth over Jasper's skin and continue to cool him. Jasper seems to take no notice of me, though. He is riveted on his brother, who continues to murmur soothingly to him. As the fluids rehydrate his body and his temperature drops, Jasper relaxes further. As he understands more, he closes his eyes, only listening to his brother's continuous babble, comforted by his presence.

After a long time, when I'm sure his condition is stable, I begin to relax. "Dad?" Jasper murmurs.

It's barely audible, but somehow I catch it. "Hmm?"

He blinks a few times. "Can I go to sleep?"

I smile. "Sure. You'll be alright now."

He nods slowly. "Thank you." He looks between the two of us for a moment. "Will…Can you…stay please?" he asks hesitantly.

Edward smiles down at him. "Do you really think we would leave? Of course we can stay."

Jasper smiles slightly and reaches out towards me with the hand that's not holding Edward's. When I take it, he relaxes completely. Then, holding both of us close, he falls asleep.

Edward looks up at me. "He's really gonna be okay?" he murmurs.

I nod. "He'll be just fine. We got to him just in time, but he'll be fine."

He nods and watches Jasper sleep for a moment. "You know how he usually gets upset when he thinks we're checking up on him?" he says. I nod. "He wasn't like that this time. He was so happy to see us. I mean, he wasn't thinking clearly to begin with, but what I could piece together was happy."

"I'll bet he was," I reply. "He was in a lot of pain. And you know it had to be bad if he was showing it."

Edward nods. "Yeah, I expected him to try and pass it off like usual. And I really expected him to fight us when we started taking his clothes off."

"I did too," I admit. "But I think by that point he was in so much pain he would have let us do just about anything to make it better."

He nods again. "I guess you're right. It's nice to know he trusted us, though."

"I agree. He spends so much time keeping away from us that you wonder, but I guess he really does considering how much he listened to us. Especially you."

Edward cracks a smile. "Yeah, that was weird. A good kind of weird. Never knew he liked me that much."

I shrug. "Well, you were being nice and comforting. I'd bet he's not used to that, considering his past. You didn't take advantage of the fact that he was hurt, so he wanted to hold on to it as much as he could. He's never had that."

Edward looks at me a little sadly. "It's a shame. He doesn't deserve that."

"He doesn't," I agree. "But maybe this has been good for him. Maybe he'll learn not to expect that from us."

"I don't," a soft murmur interjects. We look down to see Jasper watching us. He looks down quickly. "I did, but…not anymore."

I smile softly. "Thank you, Jasper. That means a lot."

He nods and hesitates a moment before looking up at me. "Thank you. For everything," he says softly.

"You don't have to thank me, Jasper. How long were you listening?"

He shrugs. "A while," he admits nervously. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it…"

"It's okay, I'm not mad," I assure him.

He nods slowly. "You were right."

Edward turns to him. "Right about what?"

"The things you said…you were right." He smiles sheepishly. "I guess you know me better than I thought."

I nod. "I guess so. How do you feel? Honestly."

He considers it for a moment. "Pretty good," he says finally. "Much better than before, thank you."

I chuckle. "I'll bet. We can take your IV out now if you want."

He nods eagerly and holds his hand out. When I take it, I notice that he's shaking. "Jazz, it's okay, it won't hurt." He nods, but turn towards Edward, hiding his face in his brother's shirt, and squeezes his eyes shut. Edward holds him close, murmuring softly to him. I gently remove the needle, but he doesn't move. "It's done, Jazz," I say gently.

He carefully peeks out, and grows surprised when he sees that it's true. "Oh. Thank you. So am I okay now?"

I smile. "You should be fine. Just take it really easy today. Try not to get up. Tomorrow you can get up, but don't push it. Stay hydrated and try to stay out of the heat."

He nods again. "Got it. Thanks."

"Get some rest," I advise.

"Um, dad?" he says softly.

"Yes Jasper?"

He hesitates for a moment before hugging me lightly. "Thanks."

The moment is brief, but says so much more. I smile. "Any time, son."

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**So what do you think? Please leave me a review! They make me smile :D**

**~TheSongSmith  
**


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